Variable,commutating contact electroplating barrel



March 11, 1969 N. P. VITACCO 3,432,419

VARIABLE, COMMUTATING CONTACT ELECTROPLATINQ BARREL Filed July 22, 1965 152% wex WoM/ZQQM %MOZes March 11, 1969 N. P. vlTAcco 3,432,419

VARIABLE, COMMUTATING CONTACT ELECTROPLATING BARREL Filed July 22, 1965 Sheet 3 of z United States Patent 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention concerns an electroplating barrel of hexagonal shape, the sides of which are perforated so that the solution in which the barrel is immersed can penetrate into the barrel while the latter is revolved. Electrical contact buttons are respectively carried by the barrel sides and are connected by suitably insulated conductors to brushes extending in a hermetic chamber having insulated walls and carried at one end of the barrel. These brushes rotate with the barrel and are adapted to selectively contact a rigidly mounted segmental commutator plate extending in the chamber and connected to a source of electrical power outside the barrel. Flexible covering surrounds the connection between the commutator and the source of power.

The present invention relates to a variable commutating contact electroplating barrel and is particularly concerned with barrels of the button type or any type in which the electrodes rotate out of contact with the load of articles being electroplated.

Since the entire barrel is immersed in the solution, and the buttons or electrodes must be bare to contact the load, when the electrodes or buttons rotate to any position out of contact with the load, plating of the buttons continues, and one of the objects of the invention is the provision of an improved barrel in which the buttons are automatically deenergized when they are moved out of contact with the load and this became of great importance when the plating is being done with precious metal, such as gold.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved electroplating barrel which is provided with a commutator contact that covers a fixed area during which the load is in contact with the buttons of the barrel and with contact brushes connected to the buttons in each portion of the periphery of the barrel, so that as the buttons and their corresponding cont-acts engage the commutator contact as long as any buttons are engaged with the load in the barrel, but the buttons with their contact brushes rotate out of contact with the commutator at the time the buttons rotate out of contact with the load in the barrel. Thus the plating of the buttons and waste of metal is reduced and the efficiency of the barrel is increased as all the current is carried to the parts being electroplated. Another object is the provision of an improved barrel construction in which the commutator and contacts are inclosed in a separate chamber and thus protected from the solution.

Another object is the inclosure of a conductor extending into the barrel, at the hub thereof and engaging the fixed commutator segment and the provision of a bellows type hose attached to the barrel hub and rotating with the barrel, enclosing the said conductor and extending to a point out of the solution, to keep the solution of this conductor.

Another object is the provision of an improved type variable contact electroplating barrel in which the area of the fixed commutating contact may be varied to correspond with the amount of the load such as /2, /3, A, or /6 of a circle, corresponding to the load, and in which the barrels may be made of different sizes with the commutator and contacts enclosed in a closed chamber of inert material and the commutator may be engaged by brush contacts on its edge, its face or rear, as convenient in making barrels of different diameter-s.

Another object is the provision of such a barrel having a minimum number of parts, having a simple construction, adapted to carry any amount of current, adapted to be manufactured economically and requiring a minimum amount of care or cleaning of the parts.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, of which there are 2 sheets:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a variable commutating contact electroplating barrel embodying the invention;

FIG. 2. is a fragmentary elevational view taken from the right end of FIG. 1; with the flexible hose in dotted lines;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view taken from the right end of FIG. 1, in partial section, broken away to show the motor and associated parts;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line 4-4 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial sectional view of the barrel wall;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view of the barrel wall with conductor in elevation;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal axial sectional view of the complete unit;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line 8-8, of FIG. 7, looking in the direction of the arrows to show a face view of the contacts;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line 9-9, of FIG. 7, looking in the direction of the arrows.

The present invention may be mounted upon a supporting frame 20, comprising a pair of side plates, 22, 24, of chemically inert material such as Lucite, with re spect to the electroplating solution in which it is immersed. The side plates, 22, 24, are preferably rectangular, having upper, 26, and lower, 28, straight edges, and lateral straight edges, 30, 32, the lower edge, 28, serving as a supporting base when the unit is outside a tank, and the lateral edges, 30, 32, serve to space the parts of the barrel from the walls of the tank.

The two side plates are each provided with through bores, 34, 36, 38, for passing the threaded ends, 40, of the three bolts, 42, 44, 46, which are provided with end shoulders, 48, engaging washers, 50, 52, which are mounted on the threaded ends of each bolt and provided with nuts, 54, which draw the side plates, 22, 24, against the shoulders, 48, and clamp the side plates between the washers with the side plates in parallel position, thus forming the frame 20.

The frame bolts, 4246, are preferably covered with a thick coating of inert plastic insulation, and the two upper frame bolts, 42, 44, carry a platform plate, 56, of inert material, secured to the frame bolts, by through bolts threaded into bores in the frame bolts, 42, 44. The plate, 56, supports the base of a 110 V. AC. electric driving motor, 58, for rotating the barrel, 60, and the motor carries a worm gear speed reduction unit, 62, driving a laterally projecting drive shaft, 64, carrying a Lucite pinion, 66.

The pinion, 66, meshes with a larger drive gear, 68, mounted on a stub shaft, 70, having a head, 72, a cylindrical portion, 74, and a threaded end, 78, with a nut, 80, clamping the stub shaft on the side plate, 22, and mounting gear, 68, for rotation.

For supporting the unit, 18, in a tank, each side plate may carry a combined handle and bus bar, 82, 84, secured to the side plates by through bolts, 86, and nuts, 88, and the bus bars, 82, 84, project beyond one end of the end plates at, 90, 92, to rest on the upper edge of a tank, while the other projecting ends, 94, 96, are provided on their lower edges with V-shaped inverted grooves, 98, for mounting the unit on a bus rod, 99, carried by the tank.

The barrel, 60, comprises a pair of end plates, 100, 102, of circular shape integrally welded or cemented to the ends of a side wall unit, 104, comprising a plurality of rectangular panels, 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, forming a hexagonal side wall with one side open, at 116. The opening, 116, is closed by a cover, 117, of the same material, Lucite, fitting in the opening, 116, and secured by a pair of Lucite turnbuckles, 118, turning into slots, 120, in the end plates, 100, 102. The panes, 106-114, of the side wall unit, 104, are provided with a multiplicity of drilled holes, 105, for permitting the solution to flow into and out of the barrel, 60.

The present barrels may be made of any size, diameter or length, and each Panel is provided on its inside with one or more metal buttons, carried by a threaded shank, 126, which carries the threaded button, 122, and a washer, 124, on the inner end of each shank, 126, and extends through the barrel wall into electrical contact with a longitudinal bar, 128, where it is secured by a cap nut, 129, on the other end of each shank, 126. The bar, 128, and all external metal parts connected therewith are covered with inert plastic insulating compound, 139, and the bar, 128, carries a plurality of buttons on each panel and is also connected to a flexible V-shaped pigtail conductor extending through to end plate, 102, to an electrical contact brush, 130, for each series of buttons.

There are a plurality of buttons 122 carried by each rectangular side wall and each insulated conductor, being electrically connected to a plurality of metal contact buttons which extend through the side wall and are located on the inside to contact the load in the barrel, each said insulated conductor bar extending into said closed receptacle and being provided with a transverse contact brush engaging said commutator contact when the latter is adjacent to the brush contacts, said commutator contact 140 being segmental and thus having a variable area which corresponds to the amount of load in said barrel, the rod conductor 141 and commutator 140 being fixed and said barrel and buttons and brush contacts rotating with the barrel, and a flexible solution tight hose 142 extending from the hub of the trunnion through which the rod conductor passes and said hose being secured to said trunnion to rotate with the barrel, the hose extending upward on the rod conductor to a point well above the level of the solution and excluding solution from the interior of the hose, whereby the commutator energizes those brushes and buttons which are in the area of the load in the barrel, but, the rotation of the barrel and brushes causes the buttons which are out of the load to be automatically deenergized stopping any plating of the deenergized buttons and utilizing the equipment more efficiently.

The hose is preferably flexible like a bellows construc- 4 tion or provided with interior ball to facilitate bending at the R.L. bend of the hose.

The hose also acts as a breather taking in air when the solution is colder and expelling air when the solution is hotter than the air outside.

It will be noted that a chamber 143 is provided at the end of the barrel, formed of inert material and rotatable with the barrel, to hermetically enclose contacts and commutator to exclude the solution in the barrel from these elements.

The commutator contact may be variable in the size of the are which it subtends, depending on the amount of load to be carried in the barrel, such as /2 circle, /3, M1, /s, or /6, and the variable contact may energize its buttons over /2 circle, /3, /4, /5, or /6, or any fraction of a circle corresponding to the size of the load, and leaving the buttons deenergized for the rest of the time.

It will thus be observed I have invented an improved variable commutating contact electroplating barrel in which the button contacts rotate out of engagement with the commutating contact when the load requires that the buttons be deenergized.

The present construction is simple, has a minimum number of parts, may be made to carry any amount of current, is adapted to be manufactured economically and requires a minimum amount of care or cleaning of parts.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of our invention, many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and we do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail ourselves of all changes within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In an electroplating barrel, the combination of a polygonal barrel of inert material having a plurality of plane rectangular sides with means for mounting the barrel for rotation, said barrel having at one end thereof and rotatable therewith, spaced-apart walls to form a closed chamber, a contact button carried by each of the rectangular sides and connected to an external conductor, said conductor being connected to a contact brush carried by the barrel and extending in said chamber, a fixed commutator segment located in said chamber, an axial conductor connected to said commutator and extending therefrom to a source of electrical power, said commutator engaging said contact brush when the contact brush rotates to a position of engagement, the contact brush rotating out of engagement when the load in the barrel moves out of the solution, so that the buttons are de-energized when the load moves out of the solution.

2. An electroplating barrel according to claim 1, in which the said axial conductor is inclosed by a flexible hose secured at its lower end to rotate with the barrel and to flex as it rotates while inclosing the said conductor to a point above the top of the solution.

3. An electroplating barrel according to claim 1 in which the said flexible hose is in the form of a flexible bellows located adjacent the point of attachment of the bellows to the barrel.

4. An electroplating barrel according to claim 1 in which the variable commutating contact has an area or subtends an are which corresponds to the arc of the barrel which is occupied by the load, so that the load may be varied b ymaking the commutating contact in corresponding area.

5. An electroplating barrel according to claim 1 in which each rectangular side of the barrel has a plurality of contact buttons connected to a common conductor leading to a contact rotating with the barrel.

6. An electroplating barrel according to claim 1 in which the barrel is supported by a frame of inert material carrying a pair of horizontal bars, one end of each 5 6 bar resting upon a tank wall and the other end having a 3,183,177 5/1965 De Sante et a] 204-213 bare V slot for engagement with and support by a bus rod 3,282,819 11/ 1966 Hovanic 204-213 XR carried by the tank. 3,328,278 6/ 1967 Knecht 204-213 References Cited 5 FOREIGN PATENTS 19,828 1/ 1897 Great Britain. UNITED STATES PATENTS 194,759 3/ 1923 Great Britain. 560,931 5/1896 RaWs0n 204-213 331 953 5 1903 France 1,020,829 3/1912 Jones 204-213 XR 1,744,792 1/1930 Newey et 204-213 HUBERT K. MIHALEK, Primary Examiner. 1,807,157 5/1931 Hughes 204-218 XR 10 3,152,060 10/1964 Belke 204 213 W. VAN SISE, Assistant Examiner. 

